Wednesday 5 October 2011

Tanya Lees - writer


I wrote my first book when I was two and a half.
I have since mislaid it, but I seem to remember that it was a single sheet of paper, folded and carefully filled with random letters in imitation of the mysterious and wonderful volumes around me, like so:

ETRCOS JASDYLAKYF JXFLIUSADFU G AJKUE SAHDKJHEF JSHDKJHE
DFKJAHDF ASDG DKJDHF SDJAKD BSD SIENNSBSDE SDEDA
JASWEJU


Luckily I learned to read soon after and my own readability statistics improved.

Now, more than 30 years later, I am writing professionally, as a copywriter for American Express Business Travel, and as a screenwriter, with the generous support of Screen West Midlands, who are sponsoring my feature film script Translations, and my mentor and producer Anita Lewton who is still patiently badgering me to improve seven years after I first walked into her screenwriting class.


Selected Credits include:
2008    Everyday Heroes     short film                 Writer/Director          London, Mexico
2007    Catas-trophe            short film                 Writer/Director          London, New York, Beijing
2001    No Way Out             theatre                     Director                      UK tour
2000    Gaveston                  multi-media             Director                      London
1999    Frankenstein            multi-media             Writer/Director          London
1997    Dracula                     theatre                     Director                      London
1995    The Changeling        theatre                     Director                      London
1995    Ines de Castro          theatre                     Director                      London
1994    La Gioconda             theatre                     Writer/Director          London, Edinburgh
1992    Eaten                        multi-media             Writer/Director          Leeds
1992    La Gioconda             short film                 Writer/Director          London, New York
1991    This Way Up             theatre                     Writer/Director          Leeds
1990    Leonce und Lena      theatre                     Director                      Leeds